Questions tagged [chmod]

chmod is an abbreviation of change mode. A file's mode is the set of permissions attached to it that control access:

Permission settings have different effects on regular files and on directories:

chmod can also set the special permissions setuid, setgid and sticky bit.

chmod commands may be given in symbolic notation:

u = file owner
g = file group owner
o = everyone else
a = all of the above

Examples:

chmod u+x        #give owner only execute permission
chmod o-w        #remove global write permission
chmod g=r        #set group permission to read only
chmod u+w,go=rx  #give owner write permission & set permissions for group and others to read & execute only
chmod g+s        #add the setgid bit

Octal notation may also be used. An absent digit will be interpreted as a leading zero, so chmod 1 file is the same as chmod 0001 file The last three digits refer to the three sections of the mode and act as follows:

1 = x only
2 = w only
3 = w and x
4 = r only
5 = r and x
6 = r and w
7 = r w and x

The first digit applies special permissions:

1 = sticky bit
2 = setgid
4 = setuid

Examples:

chmod 644   #owner may read and write, group & others only read
chmod 755   #owner may read write and execute, group & others read and execute
chmod 2750  #setgid, owner may read write and execute, group may read and execute, others have no permissions

The command takes multiple file names as arguments:

chmod 744 foo bar baz  #gives the owner rwx and all others r only on the files foo bar and baz

It also has a -R recursive flag, but it is unusual for files and directories to need the same permissions.